Saving the Kelp Forests

2023 // 51 by 65 inches

Machine pieced, machine and hand quilted.

Quilting cotton, an old bedsheet (12 shades in all)

Artist Statement

The giant bull kelp forests form a unique ecosystem that is habitat and home to countless aquatic creatures. But overgrazing, overfishing, and pollution have conspired to deforest these magical underwater realms. There are devastating declines on every continent; the losses in southern Australia and northern California, where a mere 5 percent of the once teaming giant bull kelp forests remain, are especially heartbreaking. When kelp forests disappear, their undersea nonhuman inhabitants disappear too, along with the web of human livelihoods they support. Using twenty shades of green, aqua, and brown, this improv-pieced quilt shimmers like the kelp's underwater world. The black band along the edge warns us of what we stand to lose.

Shows

International Quilt Show, Long Beach, CA, 2023

Houston International Quilt Show, Houston, TX 2024